The Genesis Sequence Books 6-10

by Mackenzie Morris

  As the burning tears of his ending struggle swelled in his eyes, he leaned his head back against the side of the elevator to look up through the multiple floors of the elevator shaft, leaving all the way up to the junctures with the Upper City. Even from this distance, he could see the gleaming purple and red neon, the snapping florescent lights of the bars and strip clubs, the ambient glow of the big screens that televised news and advertisements on the roofs of the buildings. The honking of hovercar horns, the wooshing of hovertrains along their tracks, and the distant blaring of sirens swirled together to create the living pulse of the city.

  He was tired. He was done.

  Rav ran his hand through his grimy hair and shook his head when he spotted his mark of logic. The dark lines of the intersecting gears mocked him. As if he had not reached enough of a rock bottom, the thought occurred to him. He had not used it on the security terminal that Vance had been trying to hack into. The mark of logic had worked on everything else he had tried it on. The warehouse was only a couple of levels above him, but his remaining energy was being sapped from him quickly by the pain and blood loss.

  A cold sweat poured over his hot, feverish skin as he came to the final conclusion. He had to see his son's face one last time. There was only one way to do that. He had to beg. "Brooke, I know you're watching me. I know you can hear me. I give up. I'll do this your way. You can take me back to the hospital and lock me away in there for as long as you want. You can send me to work at CyrinoTech or trap me in my nine-year-old body. Hell, you can even send me to Darren and let him beat the crap out me. I don't care. If you haven't noticed by now, I'm dying. I don't know what happens if I die in here, but I know it's probably not good for me or for you. I'll do whatever you want me to do once I'm out of here. I only ask one thing. Let me see my son. Just let me see Nemo. I can't go without seeing his face one last time."

  Rav choked back tears as the grief knotted in his throat. "If that means viewing him in a casket, then so be it. I know you probably killed him already, but I have to see him. It's the final dying wish of a lonely and desperate man who has lost everything he ever had. If you can hear me, Brooke, please let me see my son before I die down here in this elevator. Please."

  "Rav? Are you still alive in there?"

  The soft female voice guided him back to consciousness. "Leah? Leah, I'm in bad shape. I can't even stand. I feel so cold, so stiff. Every breath hurts."

  "Where are you right now?"

  "Level 50. I'm in an elevator. I was trying to get down to the sludge pits, but I was wrong. The place I need to go is out of reach. It's over, Leah. I can't beat this program. The computer won."

  "Listen to me, Rav. I need you to hold on a little while longer. Something is happening with the program. I can't pinpoint it, but the readings I'm getting from most of the levels of the virtual Odyssia are going off the charts. I'm showing radiation at lethal levels, some unstable walls and floors along the outsides of the city, and a strange magnetic pulsing coming from your location. I'm honing in on you now to try to get a view of you. Oh my God, Rav . . ."

  "What?"

  "You're red from head to toe. Is all of that your blood?" Leah asked, her voice airy with concern.

  "Yeah. I don't know how much I've lost, but I'm surprised I'm still able to talk to you right now. I've reached the end of the road, Leah. If you ever see Nemo again, if he's still alive, tell him I love him. Tell him he's my little hero."

  "I'm not finished trying to get you out of there, Rav. You have to stay awake for me. Keep talking while I run some more scans. Wait. Something's not right. Rav! Rav, I-" Leah's voice became lost in static then cut off completely.

  "Hey, mate. Let's get you out of here."

  Rav looked up to see the lightly tanned hand reaching down for him. He traced the arm up to mismatched eyes. "Vance? You died."

  "Yeah, well, I got another chance."

  He groaned as he was pulled to his feet and braced over Vance's shoulder. Screams and sirens came from the upper levels as some of the walls of the buildings flickered and the hovercars froze and jumped around as if they were lagging. "Is this your doing?"

  "I found an override code in Tirlmayn's room. This isn't Olonictic technology. It's Azimandian that was created with Olonictu's help. I generated another digital body and came back in here to get you as soon as I started the self-destruct sequence. We have ten minutes. Well, eight now, but you get the point."

  "Tirlmayn's room?" Rav asked, leaning on his friend for support. "So it is you? You're the real Vance?"

  "Yeah, mate. It's me. I've been watching out for you as much as I could. I couldn't let you die in some virtual reality. You have a son to care for, a son who desperately needs you."

  "What if this doesn't work? What if . . . what if I just die? Like you said, there's no guarantee I'll be put into a physical body once I get out of here."

  "That's where you're wrong, mate. You'll be getting a body one way or another. Tirlmayn had a special machine in his closet that connected physical bodies to this computer and allowed for data to brain transfers."

  Rav was too far gone to understand any of that. "Meaning?"

  "If you can't get into your predetermined body, then you'll go into mine."

  "But you'll be trapped in here. You'll die."

  "Rav, Nemo needs you. It's as simple as that. I get it now. We're down to six minutes now. We have to do this before your data gets corrupted along with the rest of this place." Vance pulled a small silver square from his pocket and held it to Rav's mark of logic. "Good luck, Rav. I hope we see each other again on the other side. If not, know I'm sorry for everything. Goodbye, mate."

  "Vance, don't! I-"

  Rav screamed as the world around him flashed white. The buildings became skeletons of blue lines and distorted lights without sources. Pinpoints of red dots, steaming columns of numbers, and disjointed sounds flowed through the pulsing emptiness. He clutched his ears as the whining sound of a machine grew unbearably loud. The whiteness of the void vibrated to higher and higher levels, growing brighter in intensity until Rav was forced to shut his eyes against it. He fell to his knees in the airless void, gasping for breaths of oxygen that never came. Like a sheet of plastic vacuumed tightly across his mouth and nose, the emptiness choked him.

  Drowning without water, suffocating without a way out, Rav collapsed in the blinding white nothingness while every cell in his body began to be pulled apart in different directions. The pain intensified to new heights, heights of sheer agony he had never experience before, but there was a strange cooling relief that began to tingle in his toes. It traveled up through his legs, his hips, to his torso and chest, then over his head. The pain was replaced with warmth and heat, not uncomfortable, but noticeable. The blinding white cracked into bursts of colors through his eyelids. A crash of thunderous voices reached through the sirens and the beeping to pull him out of the deafening cacophony.

  Just when he knew he was going to asphyxiate, Rav's lungs begged him to breathe one last time. He opened his mouth and drew in a much-needed breath of apple-scented air. Although his mind screamed at him to run, to hide, to go back into the void, he set his thoughts on Nemo. He let the currents drag him along, despite the scent that brought back so many vividly horrific memories.

  With a stubbornness unrivaled by anyone else, he took another breath. This one was softer, more familiar. What was more familiar to him than the smell he hated the most? The one he loved. It was sweet, delicate, and earthy. It was like honey, cake icing, and waffles. Syrup, chicken nuggets, bubblegum bubble bath, and grape toothpaste. Blue slushy, ketchup, and finger paints. It was Nemo.

  Rav dared to open his eyes. He found himself in the bedroom of a yellow-walled apartment. Soft blankets tickled the bottoms of his bare feet. The spackling on the white ceiling above him twisted into various shapes, playing tricks on his eyes. He attempted to move his arms, his legs, anything, but nothing would obey his commands. All he could do was blink and turn his head
to the side.

  Looking around the carpeted floor of the square room, he spotted some drawings on yellow and orange construction paper, broken crayons, and jars of overturned paint. As the distant points of his vision became clearer, his eyes landed on the metal bed frame that was leaned up against the opposite wall. Wires with clamps at the ends were coiled on the floor next to three Vitalanum hovercar batteries, a bucket of water, and a towel that was soaked in blood.

  As his memories trickled back into his head, the scene around him became clear. The bed frame was where Nemo had been tortured. When he blinked, he became aware of the mass of white sheets in the corner a few feet away from the frame. Something was under there.

  With his muscles twinging and his nerves snapping back to life, Rav used all his strength to sit up on the table he was on. The coolness of the metal on his skin told him what he needed to know without having to take his eyes off of the bundle in the corner. He was naked, but this was his body. His human body, or as much of a human as he ever had been.

  He was met with resistance when he tried to move off of the table. Rav looked down at himself to see the sensors and electronic monitors stuck to his chest, the IV in his wrist and arm, and the needles sticking out of his legs. Without hesitation, he removed it all, becoming aware of the lack of pain from the gunshot wound he had suffered inside the program.

  After ripping off the final sensor from above his heart, Rav slid to the floor and had to catch himself on the edge of the table as his legs buckled under his weight. A harsh tickling of pinpricks rushed through his veins as the blood began to flow once again to his extremities. Tossing his bangs out of his eyes, he took another step, this one more stable than the last, towards the bundle in the corner. He inched across the floor until he was standing over it.

  He hesitated. Did he truly want to know what was under there, wrapped up like a discarded corpse?

  Rav sat down, his legs stiff as he moved, then held up his hand towards the white sheet. His voice was as foreign to him as the world in which he now found himself. But the words escaped his parched lips all the same. "Please be alive. Please."

  He pinched the edge of the outer layer of cotton and peeled it back until he saw pale skin beneath it. That was enough to drive him to pull the other ends apart, slowly unwrapping the contents. Once they were moved out of the way, Rav covered his mouth with his hand.

  The tiny boy was curled up in the fetal position without clothes, his head was shaved, and dark red burn marks trailed up his arms and legs, left as evidence from the arcing electricity. His pale green eyes flittered open to stare up at Rav without emotion or acknowledgment that he was even there. Purplish circles surrounded those empty bloodshot eyes that belonged on someone much older. The depth of the despair that those pupils held was beyond any Rav had seen up until that point.

  When Rav dared to place his hand on Nemo's shoulder, the boy let out a mewling cry and his body seized up. He immediately withdrew his hand for fear of hurting his son. Still, those eyes showed nothing, not even fear or pain. "Nemo, it's me. It's your daddy. I'm here now. Do you know who I am?"

  Nemo simply stared straight ahead, not moving from where he was curled up on the sheets. Despite being unclothed and wet with sweat or water, Rav did not know which, the boy did not shiver or attempt to cover himself once again. Each breath wracked his body and his skin was pulled taught across his ribs that stuck out as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. His cheeks were sickening white, but pink and feverish at the same time.

  "Nemo, I'll get you out of here. I'll get you to a hospital. Come here. Let me hold you." Rav once again tried to touch his son, this time managing to lift both feet to check for numbers. None. He was the real Nemo, his real son. Rav scooped him up in his arms and held him to his chest without causing him to whimper. He cradled him there and slowly rocked back and forth. "It's okay. Daddy's here now. I won't let them hurt you again."

  Rav clutched his son to his body tighter when the bedroom door was unlocked from the outside and creaked as it was pushed open. "You can't have him. I won't let you take him from me. He's my son, Brooke. Do whatever you want to me, but don't hurt him. Can't you see what you're doing? You are killing him. He's gone through enough. You've done enough."

  "I am not who you think I am, Rav Tillman."

  He stood with his son in his arms and turned around to see the blond man in the long purple coat standing in the doorway. "Who are you?"

  "My name is Tobias Desruisseaux, Director of the Department of Peace on Elysia. It is good to see you out of the simulation, but you are far from safe. Brooke, the Olonictic princess, will be returning with her goons any moment now. I have been in contact with both Leah Morgan and Vance Trainor for the past three days, trying to get you out of that computer program. I manged to talk Brooke into leaving the apartment for a few hours, telling her that Nemo needed medicines or he would die. Although that was not entirely false."

  "Is he okay?" Rav asked, feeling Nemo's fluttering heartbeat through his thin body.

  "I am afraid, despite my attempts to prevent Dalan and Brooke from harming him, that Nemo is no longer the boy you remember. He was strong, so very strong, but every person has their breaking point. I even tried to sneak in here at night and shut him down so he would not have to suffer, but Brooke had guards posted outside the door. I am sorry I was not able to do more." Tobias nervously clapped his hands together as he rushed over to the closet, then pulled out a pair of tattered jeans and a black hoodie. "I believe these belong to you. Feel free to get dressed, but I must tell you to hurry. We have to get Nemo to safety before the Olonictians return. Be aware, though, that this entire apartment building is filled with them."

  "You were the one who was supposed to care for Nemo."

  "Yes, I was. I tried, Mr. Tillman. God knows I tried my hardest. I will hold him for you while you get dressed."

  "No." Rav cradled his son in his arms. "I'm never letting him go. Never."

  "You have to get dressed. Think of your son. I swear to you that he will be fine. I've been caring for him. You can trust me, Mr. Tillman. I am not your enemy."

  Reluctantly, Rav placed the motionless boy in the Frenchman's outstretched arms. Without taking his eyes off of Nemo, he dressed as quickly as he could. He found his old sneakers below the edge of the bed and stepped into them without stopping to tie the laces. He observed every movement Tobias made as he wrapped Nemo's frail body in a sheet before handing him back. Once he took Nemo in his arms once again, Rav carried him to the door. "Lead the way, Tobias. Do you have a safe way out?"

  "There is an emergency door on this level at the end of the hallway. I called one of my assistants from the Department of Peace to have a vehicle running not far from here. He is waiting for us to emerge from this building with twenty government agents. There are six snipers with their rifles fixed on the windows on the back side of this building. If we can get out of the doors, we will be in government custody."

  Rav looked down at his son and gently kissed his forehead. He breathed deeply of the sweet scent as he whispered to him. "I love you, Nemo. We'll get out of this. I've got you. Your daddy is never letting you go again. Do you hear me? I'm never letting you out of my sight, no matter what. I'll make it better. I'll make you all better. Just hold on for me. Hold on, Nemo. Hold on."

  Chapter 13

  Ben stirred awake in his bed to find fifteen pairs of mint green eyes staring down at him, unblinking and waiting for him to acknowledge them. "Ah!" He jumped back and slipped off the edge of the bed, much to the entertainment of the boys. He clutched his rapidly pounding heart as he realized that he was not being attacked. "Boys, good morning."

  "Good morning, Daddy!"

  "We're hungry."

  "Yeah, really hungry."

  "Hey, Daddy, do you have names for us yet?"

  "Daddy, thank you for letting us sleep in your bed. It was the first time for me to sleep in a bed."

  "Me too!"

  "Not me. The warbringer
kept me there. I didn't like him."

  Ben climbed back up onto the bed where the blankets were messed up and twisted and sixteen pillows were piled up across the king-size mattress. "If you all get much bigger, we're not going to be able to share this bed for much longer."

  "No, Daddy."

  "We love you."

  "Don't make us go! Don't take us back!"

  The boys all latched onto Ben and expressed their fears of abandonment.

  Ben held them as well, as many of them as he could. "Don't worry. I'm not making you go anywhere. And I'm certainly not going to take you back to Star-World Zero Alpha. You are my sons now. As soon as we get somewhere in allied territory, I am going to apply to adopt each and every one of you. That is, if you will have me."

  They answered in unison. "Yes!"

  "I'm glad you are all so enthusiastic about all this." Ben rustled the hair of the one sitting in his lap. "You're the same one that is always sitting here, aren't you? You like being close to me?"

  The boy nodded his head with the biggest smile imaginable on his pale pink lips.

  "Awe. You're adorable."

  "How could you tell me apart?" The boy asked, poking Ben's cheek with his finger.

  "You have a thin scar above your right eye. You know what? I think it's time for me to start naming each of you." He took the chin of the boy in his lap. "I want you to have a name that means a lot to me. It was my name before it was given to my little brother. Now I want you to have it, Isaac."

  All of the boys gathered around closer, bouncing on their knees and excitedly asking for their own names.

  "Okay, okay. Isaac, you're up first for the shower. Do you know how to bathe yourself?"

  "Yep."

  "You go get a shower while I name your brothers, okay?"

  Isaac nodded his head and ran into the bathroom.